The transportation equipment and fabricated metal industries were mainly responsible for the growth in August.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange pointed upward 0.85 points to 539.90

All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive, with health-care up 2.4%, materials surging 1.1%, and gold, ahead 0.7%.

The three laggards were consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.1%, while utilities and communications each off 0.02%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks traded higher on Thursday as investors cheered strong earnings results from companies such as Netflix and Morgan Stanley. Sentiment was also lifted by European Union and the U.K. striking a deal on Brexit.

The Dow Jones Industrials regained 81.71 points to start off Thursday trading at 27,083.69. J.P. Morgan Chase was the best-performing stock in the Dow, rising more than 1%.

The S&P 500 rebounded 16.23 points to 3,005.92.

The NASDAQ Composite moved higher 47.88 points to 8,172.07

Netflix shares jumped 4.4% after the video streamer posted earnings that topped analyst expectations. The company reported a bigger-than-expected increase in international paid subscribers, which mitigated a big miss in domestic subscriber adds.

Morgan Stanley also got a boost from its quarterly numbers, trading more than 3% higher. The bank's results got a boost from stronger-than-anticipated trading and advisory revenues.

Overall, the corporate earnings season is off to a solid start. More than 76% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported have topped analyst earnings expectations

Stocks also rose after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "we have a great new Brexit deal" via Twitter. He called on British lawmakers to back the deal when it's put before Parliament on Saturday. Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted that the deal was a "fair and balanced" one.

This is not a done deal, however. The U.K. Parliament has to approve the deal before it can be implemented.

Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury hesitated, raising yields to 1.76% from Wednesday's 1.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.